Buenaventura, Colombia

BUENAVENTURA, COLOMBIA - DECEMBER 29, 2009: A young woman with her kid watches a game of cards in the market place in downtown Buenaventura where guerillas and paramilitaries are active. Buenaventura is a port city and municipality located in the department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia (South America). Buenaventura is the main port of Colombia in the Pacific Ocean. Buenaventura is a city with a population of 324,207 and it is the size of Los Angeles' metropolitan area; most of the city's land is rural with scattered small villages throughout. It is located a few miles from the western cordillera of the Andes mountain range and the major city of Cali, the department's capital. Buenaventura is one of the rainiest cities in the world with 6000-7000 mm precipitation annually. Buenaventura has had a notorious history plagued by drug trafficking, violence, and the presence of guerrilla and paramilitary groups. The amount of reported homicides has doubled in recent times. The murder rate that is 24 times that of New York City, making it a crime rate of 175.2. To counter the violence, the Colombian government has set up a marine special forces unit in the worst area of the city. Buenaventura's population is mostly of African descent (85%) with 10% mixed European/Native Indian and 5% Spanish. (Photo by Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)